The Busselton RAAF Base was constructed in 1941. Its remains are still visible today, although grass has grown over the main runway.

Its purpose was to protect the South West coastline from enemy ships. According to Pamela's research, Beaufort Bomber A9-317 took off on September 9, 1943, from the RAAF Base in Busselton and did not return.

"Its whereabouts are still unknown 72 years later," she said.

This week, Pamela was part of a simple ceremony where relatives gathered on the beach to honour the men who flew that plane.

The day the Beaufort was lost

In 1943, the airbase was made an Operational Base Unit with its main function to fuel and service Beaufort Bombers and Tiger Moths.

A9-317 Beaufort was on reconnaissance from Pearce to Geraldton and Exmouth when it disappeared with four crew and one passenger on board.

Flying Officer Arthur Aitken from Narrogin, Flight Sergeant Peter Hastie of Pinjarra, and two Victorian boys were lost, along with Captain Harry Kolbig of the Australian Air Liaison Section.

Writes Pamela: "Pilot Aitken left the Busselton Base at 1150 to carry out Patrol 'N' on a seaward clearing scan from D'Entrecastreaux Point to Rottnest Island, then on to Pearce where it was due at 4.30pm."

Just after 2.30pm, the plane reported sighting MV Nordnes about 45 nautical miles due west of D'Entrecastreaux Point.

At 5.30pm, the plane was reported overdue and extensive searches were carried out over the next two days by air and sea.

'Nothing was found'

Pamela has discovered that during WWII there were at least 160 military aircraft crashes or mishaps in WA and her quest to unravel the puzzle of the A9-317 began with a phone call late last year from a friend.

The original request had been made by a Dutch volunteer group who search for downed planes and try to trace relatives.

The captain of the Nordnes had said that A9-317 appeared to be flying normally. Two days later, a freighter spotted an empty yellow rubber dinghy approximately 85 nautical miles off the south-west coast.

There were no bodies but, reports Pamela, "this dingy was in all probability from A9-317".

There had been a report of an enemy submarine off Rottnest but the sighting could not be confirmed.

Commemoration

At 11.50 on the 9th of September, close relatives of the missing crew stood on the beach to throw flowers in the water.

Peter Hastie's niece Priscilla Smith was present.

"My mother, who was the eldest in the family, had formed a special bond with her young brother and was absolutely devastated when his plane went missing and his body was never found," Priscilla told Pamela.

"She always spoke of him as being a lovely young man. I never really knew where the plane disappeared, just that it was lost off the WA coast, but I'm grateful to the research that has gone into this.

"This is a wonderful salute to these men who lost their lives in such tragic circumstances."

Flying coffins

Pamela discovered that the Australian Beauforts had been plagued with a mysterious problem which resulted in over 90 aircraft crashing. The planes were nicknamed 'Flying Coffins'.

It was the loss of one of those crews that led to the answer. A Captain Learmonth was on patrol with two other Bristol Beauforts when his plane began to shake violently. Learmonth realised that the shaking was driven by the tail of his aircraft.

He broke radio silence, calling the pilot of one of the other Beauforts to fly closer and observe the tail.

The pilot could see the control rod to the elevator trim tab on Learmonth's plane hanging down.

Learmonth radioed the information to the other crews. Shortly after, the trim tab flicked to the extreme up position, forcing the aircraft to descend rapidly. Less than a minute later Learmonth's plane crashed into the sea, killing four men.

All RAAF Beauforts were grounded while the fault was traced. It's believed that the engineers in Melbourne assembling the planes were misreading the plans and assembling part of the controls incorrectly.

The A9-317 may well lie off Cape Leeuwin, Pamela says.

"Although not passenger planes, it would be wonderful if funds were available to find not only A9-317, but other aircraft which lie off and close to our coast as a result of crashing while defending our country. Relatives still wondering would finally have answers."

Many thanks to Pamela Harrison for the factual research used in this article.